Units

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Sample subject outline - Semester 2 2013

Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.

Rationale

A knowledge of and ability to research consumer cultures is essential to those working in the Creative Industries: it is crucial to understand the ways in which consumption actively shapes not only media and production industries, but also the value and meanings of products themselves. This unit requires you to synthesise and apply concepts and methodologies that you have learned in earlier units. This unit focuses on developing in you a broader understanding of media, communication, and production through the lens of consumer cultures. The knowledge that you gain in this unit will inform your future professional, academic, and creative practices.

Aims

This unit aims to introduce you to a critical and contextual understanding of key concepts in the study of consumer cultures. This unit will provide you with an interdisciplinary introduction to consumption practices and consumer cultures as they have developed historically and in contemporary societies, both locally and internationally. The unit provides you with an understanding of the key debates and theories related to consumer cultures, as well as using case studies to demonstrate to you the ways in which specific consumer cultural groups are organised and represented.

Objectives

On completion of this unit you should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an applied understanding of the key theories used to account for consumer cultures in both academic and industry contexts;
2. Assess the critical and complex roles that consumption plays in defining societies, cultures, identities, and social institutions;
3. Critique the various social and ethical issues and debates related to consumption, and be able to respond to them;
4. Undertake and critically analyse consumer cultures research projects using appropriate methodologies and interdisciplinary resources;
5. Communicate this understanding of consumer cultures in a variety of contexts and modes (written, oral, visual).

Content

This unit addresses content such as critical and contextual understanding of key concepts in understanding consumer cultures. These concepts include:
- the ways in which consumption shapes social and individual identities;
- the ways in which consumption and consumers have been theorised in various disciplines;
- the relationships between consumption and globalisation;
- the reshaping of consumption in the New Economy;
- the ways in which consumption creates places;
- the roles of media and communication in consumer cultures;
- and patterns of inequality in consumer cultures.

Approaches to Teaching and Learning

Key concepts will be introduced and illustrated in formal lectures each week. These will be supplemented with discussion in tutorials which are also designed to support student work-in-progress on assessment tasks. One week of formal contact time will take the form of a presentation session in which students discuss part of their assessable work in this unit with peers and teaching staff. The unit will use guest lecturers who are specialists in particular topic areas in order to provide you with opportunities for interaction with specialists with real world and applied knowledges of issues in consumer cultures.

Assessment

LATE ASSIGNMENTS
An assignment submitted after the due date without an approved extension will not be marked. If you are unable to complete your assignment on time, you should submit on time whatever work you have done.

Faculty Assessment Information
To access the Creative Industries Faculty Assessment Information see the Blackboard site for this unit.FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Formative feedback on assessment work will be provided by peers and teaching staff in tutorials and the presentation session.
Weight: 0%

Assessment name: Essay (200 words)
Description: Drawing on lecture, tutorial, and assigned reading materials, you will critically investigate a specific ethical debate about consumer culture. In this assignment, you will demonstrate your understanding of the various 'sides' to this debate, as well as the historical contexts from which these perspectives emerge.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4
Weight: 30%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Mid Semester

Assessment name: Report & Web Based Exercise
Description: Drawing on the 'consumer cultures map' resource you created in Assessment 1, you will identify a 'consumer cultures cluster' which includes five of the uploaded poster projects, and then prepare a short written report which discusses and analyses the characteristics of the 'cluster'. This discussion will reflect your understanding of the unit's central theories and themes. You will also visually present your report online to generate a map of consumer identity clusters.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Weight: 40%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: End Semester

Assessment name: Case Study (Poster and Oral)
Description: You will visually represent your analysis of a specific consumer culture: identity group, space, brand. You will elaborate on the case study in a brief oral report which you will give in your tutorial group. You will upload your completed posters into the unit's consumer cultures map site to generate a content-rich online resource.
Relates to objectives: 1, 2, 5
Weight: 30%
Internal or external: Internal
Group or individual: Individual
Due date: Mid Semester

Academic Honesty

QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.

A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.

Resource materials

Required Text

Clarke, D., Doel, M. and Housiaux, K. (Eds.) (2003) The Consumption Reader. London: Routledge.
A copy of this text will be placed in the LAC collection in the Library during the course of the semester for your use.

Recommended References

Appadurai, A. (Ed.) (1986) The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Journal of Consumer Culture.
Kingston, B. (1994) Basket, Bag, and Trolley: A History of Shopping in Australia. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Slater, D. (1997) Consumer Culture and Modernity. Cambridge: Polity.
Urry, J. (1995) Consuming Places. London: Routledge.

Risk assessment statement

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.

Last modified: 28-Mar-2013